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Zsinj's Tale
Category: Fan Fiction Note: This story takes place outside of TSC's canon. PART ONE: THE BEGINNING OF ZSINJ'S WARLORDOM It was a week after the disastrous Imperial defeat at Endor. The Empire's leader and his feared right hand were dead. The Empire's expensive Death Star was now scrap. The fleet was in disarray, now led by Captain Pellaeon of the Star Destroyer Chimaera. Pellaeon was a solid commander, but he was still only a captain. A number of admirals like Haarsk and Terradoc had refused to recognize his authority and had left the main Empire and had formed their own warlord kingdoms. The Empire was now in the hands of Palpatine's Grand Vizier, Sate Pestage, a man who had been with Palpatine since his days as a Naboo senator. He shared power with wealthy group of individuals called the Cabal, and the head of Imperial Intelligence, Ysanne Isard. The Rebels were winning over hundreds of worlds with mere diplomacy, and there were rumors of a New Republic. Zsinj stood on the bridge of his Super Star Destroyer Iron Fist, over the planet Ansaris. Five other Imperial-Class Star Destroyers and a Venator-Class Star Destroyer were with him. The citizens of the planet had taken up arms against the Empire, and they intended to join the Rebel Alliance. Zsinj was there to make sure that they didn't. Ansaris was a planet in the Quelii sector, a portion of the Empire which Asinj had somewhat gained control of over the years. In reality, most of it was run by a man called Moff Jargon. But Zsinj held considerable clout, and Jargon didn't have a fleet like the admiral did. A blue holographic image of the Rebel leader, Yoth Simmons, appeared. "What are you doing here, admiral? You have no authority here. The Free Republic of Ansaris has ejected the local government and now the legislature has voted to secede from the Empire and join the Rebel Alliance. I suggest that you turn your fleet around and scuttle back to that weak-kneed Pestage." "Your legislature won't mean much once I've disintegrated it." Zsinj replied. "This is not Alliance territory. This is the Quelii sector where the rule of the emperor is law." "The emperor is dead, you bloated dumbass, or did you not get the memo." he said "Get out before we remove you by force." He had some good points. The emperor was dead as ever, and I did have a weight problem. "Unless you have a hidden fleet, I doubt that will happen." Just then, a lieutnenant walked up and said "Sir, Governor Jargon's ship has come out of hyperspace and requests to come aboard immediately." "Very well. I'll meet him in the main hangar." He turned back to Yoth. "You have three hours to surrender before I commence bombardment." Moff Jargon's ship was a Dreadnaught. It looked and was old, but it was modified with extra weapons, a thicker hull, and the most advanced shielding. It didn't look like much, but it could definitely take on a Victory-Class Star Destroyer easily. Jargon himself was a by the book man, who had absolutely no ability in thinking outside of the box. His shuttle landed in the main hangar bay, and he was flanked by four stormtroopers. "What's this mess that's going on in my sector, Zsinj? I don't like insurrection. It's irritating and makes me get sloppy, miss deadlines, and causes all sorts of hassles." "The situation is being contained, governor. I've given their leader three hours to surrender. If they don't, I bombard their capital city." In Zsinj’s quarters, Jargon showed the true nature of his "irritation." "Our world is falling apart, admiral." he said. "There are fleets going rogue, planets rebelling without being punished, all sorts of coups and assassinations happening. The Empire is going down and I will not go down with it. But if I do, you go down as well. We've both benefited from the kickbacks, unrecorded taxes, and other benefits of running this sector with minimal oversight from Imperial Center. The Rebels haven't made any large aggressive military moves yet, but when they do, they'll target the weakest places of the Empire. The places in turmoil. And currently, this sector is in turmoil. We have heard no word from Pestage or anyone at Imperial Center. For all intensive purposes, we've been abandoned. But if we don't contain this rebellion, we will must certainly be punished by either the Empire or the Rebellion. We have all of the problems of a sovereign nation, but none of the benefits." Amongst Jargon's panicked rambling, the last thing he said stuck with Zsinj. "Governor, from what you've learned about the situation in the greater galaxy, how are the breakoff realms of the various warlord admiral faring?" "I think they are relatively stable. The Rebellion isn't focusing its resources on warlords at the moment" "Governor," Zsinj said. "You say that the Empire is going down. Why go down with it? You say that we are like a sovereign nation that has to deal with its own problems, but is still hampered by a greater power. Why don't we make our own destiny, become a nation, thus taking Rebel interest off of us for the time being and allowing us to build a formidable power base. The current Imperial leadership can only hamper us. But if we were to go rogue..." "That's treason!" the governor yelled. "We'll be shot and our bodies thrown into an incinerator!" "If the Empire isn't doing anything about the other warlords, why would they go after us. They've got too much on their hands with the Rebels. If we stay with the Empire, we suffer its fate. But if we break off, we make our own destiny. We took an oath to a now-dead emperor, not his vizier or his whore. And what has the Empire done for you? It was I that recommended you to be promoted to Moff. It was I that backed up your illegal taxation and your dealings with the Hutts. We can be greater than the Empire. Let the castrated remnants of Palpatine's realm and the Rebels wipe each other out. We'll just come out stronger." "It could work." said Jargon. "We could prey off of both the Rebels and the Empire and they would just keeping attacking each other and not us." Jargon had finally grown some balls. Zsinj’s comm then started beeping. He activated it and the blue image of Ysanne Isard appeared. "Admiral Zsinj, I have need of your fleet. Admiral Ackbar is moving to take the planet of Mustafar, and despite the planet's uselessness, it's dangerously close to a vital Imperial trade route." "First off, Madame Director," he said. "I'm currently involved with Rebel problems of my own, and can't spare much of anything. And secondly, I have just seceded form the Empire and have formed my own kingdom. Later babe." I flicked off the comm before she could respond. "Well I guess that just about settles that. And it looks like the Rebels have run out of time." The Ansaris fleet had engaged his Tie Interceptors. They were getting ripped to shreds. But Yoth Simmons was defiant. "We will never bow to the Empire. Leave or suffer, admiral." "You don't have to bow to the Empire, Yoth. The Quelii sector has seceded. You will bow to me. And if you don't surrender, your cities and towns will be leveled, I will fire on your planet's surface until it is nothing but molten slag. Your planet is not all that important, and I will fry it if necessary. Now surrender or burn!" Yoth said "I-I'll have to consult the Ansaris Legislature about this." Fifteen minutes later, Ansaris unconditionally surrendered. Zsinj was now the ruler of a large sector that was neither Imperial nor Rebel. It wasn't all that much, but it was his. Zsinj’s destiny was not the Empire's, but his own. PART TWO: LOCKING DOWN THE BORDERS The Imperial Star Destroyer Sidious exchanged fire with the Super Star Destroyer Iron Fist. It was outgunned and badly damaged. A few seconds later, it jumped to hyperspace. On the bridge of the Iron Fist, Admiral Zsinj watched the Star Destroyer, the last loyal Imperial vessel in the system, jump to hyperspace. It was now a year after the Battle of Endor, and a year after he had seceded from the Empire. The Empire and the Rebel Alliance, now known as the New Republic, were engaged in full scale war. The Rebels no longer had to resort to the guerilla tactics of the past and now confronted the Empire head on. More warlords had sprung up, like Grand Moff Ardus Kaine, the man who succeeded Tarkin, who had walled off a large portion of the Outer Rim and dubbed it the Penastar Alignment. Zsinj had had little problems up till now. The Empire and the Rebels were more concerned with each other than with the warlords. But recently, Imperial taskforces were hitting the edge of his borders, and the New Republic had seized the planet of Xim, in what looked like the beginning of an invasion. His comm started beeping. It looked like a private message from General Melvar. Melvar had commanded most Imperial bases in the Quelii sector at the time of Endor. He and Zsinj had worked hard to keep order in the sector, with little aid from the rest of the Empire. So though he was loyal to the ideals of the Empire, he felt little loyalty to the Coruscant aristocracy, and was pleased with Zsinj's seccession. In his office, the blue holographic image of Melvar appeared. "Good day, my lord." he said. "I'm afraid I have more bad news. The Empire destroyed a supply convoy on the outskirts of your territory. It appears that the Empire has put Admiral Rogriss in charge of attacking our space. Simultaneously, the Rebel forces on Xim have been backed up by a fleet of Nebulon-B cruisers and a Mon Calamari warship. It does indeed look like they plan to attack us, sir." "Where is Rogriss now, general?" Zsinj replied. "We believe that he is probing the Ansaris system, though we aren't one hundred percent sure." "Do we have any word on where the Rebels are going to strike next?" "To be totally honest sir, we don't. They are going to attack soon, though, we do know that." "General, I want you to pull almost all of your forces out of the Ginli system. I want it to look like we've abandoned it to due unrest." "But sir, that will cause it to be attacked by both the Empire and the Rebels. We could never repel a force like that." "We won't have to. Even though they both hate us, the Rebels and the Empire probably hate each other more. If they both go after the same system, they will attack each other. One side will win, but will undoubtedly be worn down. A large fleet will be waiting right outside of the system, which will include my Super Star Destroyer. We will come in and destroy the victor. Both the Empire and the New Republic will have lost major fleets, and will not want to risk more resources on us for some time. It will give us time to secure our borders and prepare for any more attacks." "An excellent plan, my lord. All of my forces except for a few small bases on some outlying moons will leave the system immediately." Admiral Rogriss sat on the bridge of his Star Destroyer Maul. He had been sent by Ysanne Isard, head of Imperial Intelligence. But now, she was more or less the empress. Grand Vizier Sate Pestage had been dealing with the Rebels, and had been killed by Admiral Krennel. Krennel had gone to take Pestage's holdings, a wealthy cluster of worlds called the Ciutric Hegemony, and break them off from the Empire to form his own small warlord kingdom. There had been something called the Imperial Ruling Council, led by someone called General Carvin, but they had all been killed, probably by Isard. The Grand Moffs had set up their own candidate for emperor, a man called Triocolus, but Isard had them all executed, and Triocolus had died by some other means. In order to discredit Pestage, Isard had allowed the wealthy world of Brentaal IV fall into the hands of the Rebels. Why do I serve this insanity? though Rogriss. But he knew why. The Empire represented order and stability, even though it was anything but stable and had no order. But it was much better than the madness that the Rebels offered with their "New Republic." The captain of the ship approached him. "Admiral, General Melvar has pulled out of the Ginli system due to political unrest. The system is practically undefended." "Prepare the fleet for attack. We have to seize Ginli before the Rebels do. Admiral Ackbar sat on the bridge of his Mon Calamari cruiser, Home One. He had other duties as a member of the New Republic Interim Ruling Council, but his military duties came first and foremost. Warlord Zsinj was steadily becoming one of the most powerful Imperial warlords, and his power had to be nipped before he became too large of a threat to handle. The New Republic couldn't afford fighting two Empires. The last year had been a frenetic one, filled with hope and anxiety. The emperor and his dreaded apprentice, Darth Vader, had been slain and now the Empire was crumbling and giving way to a new democratic order. Ackbar couldn't tell if the Empire was falling apart mostly due to the Republic's attacks, or its own internal strife. The divisions within the Empire helped the New Republic a great deal. But Palpatine's New Order was far from dead, and it would probably be at least several more years before it was totally eradicated. Still, the Rebellion had made great progress, going from an underground guerilla movement to a legitimate government. Ackbar himself had come a long way, from the slave pet of Grand Moff Tarkin, to the supreme commander of the New Republic fleet and a respected member of the Council. The captain of the ship walked up to him. "Sir, General Melvar has withdrawn all forces from the Ginli sector due to some sort of insurrection. The system is completely undefended." "Ready the fleet for departure. We must reach the Ginli system before the Empire ensnares it." Just outside of the Ginli system, Admiral Zsinj's fleet waited. It consisted of five Imperial Class Star Destroyers, two Victory Class Star Destroyers, one Venator Class Star Destroyer, and three Dreadnuaghts. A hyperspace jump from here to the plance Ginli would take less than two minutes. Zsinj watched from a hologram on his bridge as the Imperial and New Republic fleets came out of hyperspace almost simlutaneously. "Prepare for battle." said Admiral Rogriss. "We musn't let the Rebels take the system. "Battle stations, everyone." said Admiral Ackbar. "We can't let the Empire capture the system." Zsinj sat in his office, awaiting any news about the battle. Until his fleet engaged, there really was no reason for him to have to remain on the bridge. An officer that he didn't recognize entered. "Knock next time, or I'll have you shot." Zsinj said. "If anyone's going to be doing any shooting, it's going to be me. Hands up. You're under arrest for treason against the Empire. I will escort you to a shuttle, and you will be taken back to Imperial Center for execution." "Have you ever heard the account of Han Solo and the bounty hunter Greedo in the Mos Eisley cantina on Tatooine. Greedo had a gun pointed right at Solo in plain view, but Solo just shot him from under the table." A laser blast sizzled through the desk striking the officer in the chest. His finger pulled the trigger, and the blast hit the ceiling. Two stormtroopers rushed in. "What's going on, sir?" one said. "An Imperial spy. Dump his body into space and have this ship and all others in the fleet make sure there aren't any others." The New Republic fleet and the Imperial fleet engaged over the prosperous planet of Ginli. From the belly of Home One, dozens of X-Wings, Y-Wings, A-Wings, and B-Wings soared out. The other New Republic ships launched their fighters as well. From the Imperial ships, TIE Interceptors, TIE Fighters, and a handful of TIE Bombers and Phantoms flew out to meet the Rebel fighters. The Imperial and Republic capital ships met head on. The larger ones took the brunt of the fighting, while the smallers remained somewhat behind as support. Rogriss's Star Destroyer and Ackbar's cruiser pounded each other with their turbolasers. Red Squadron and Green Squadron, the X-Wing and A-Wing squadrons, lay down covering fire for Gold Squadron and Black Squadron, the Y-Wing and B-Wing squadrons, that formed up to make an attack run on one of the Star Destroyers. "This is Gold Leader. Form up on me. Launch torps in three seconds." Proton torpedoes shot out of the fighters, taking down the Star Destroyer's front shields and doing some damage. "Gold Leader to Gold and Black Squadrons. Prepare for another attack run." The 85th TIE Interceptor squadron targeted the slower Y-Wings. They blasted four of them, causing most of the others to break off the attack. But the fast B-Wings continued on their course, launching their torpedoes and causing further damage to the Star Destroyer. Meanwhile, Maul and Home One continued to bombard each other. Their shields were still holding, but were becoming progressively weaker. Zsinj watched the two fleets hammer at each other. They seemed to be just about equal, and at the rate they were going, they would probably wipe each other out. That would not do. There had to be a show of force from his fleet to tell the galaxy who was the boss of this sector of the galaxy. "Prepare for hyperspace." said Zsinj. "But my lord," said the captain. "Neither side has won yet." "Neither side will win at the rate that they are going. We must make out move now." A minute later the fleet jumped to hyperspace. Admiral Ackbar felt the turbolasers ripping through the hull. The battle was not going to well. But it was not going well for the Imperials either. He din't know whether he should retreat or keep fighting. Suddenly, a large fleet, including a Super Star Destroyer, emerged from hyperspace. It was Zsinj! He hadn't retreated at all. He had just waited for the right moment to strike. Ackbar's fleet didn't have the firepower to take on both the Imperials and Zsinj. "Retreat now. All fighters return to their ships. Divert all power to the engines and head back to Home Base." Admiral Rogriss was quite worried. He was crippling the Rebel fleet, but he was being hammered too. Neither side was gaining at all. Just then, a large fleet came out of hyperspace. He immediately recognized the Super Star Destroyer. So Zsinj hadn't retreated after all. If Rogriss didn't leave now, his fleet would be wiped out. "All fighters return to your ships. Cease fire and divert all energy to your engines and rendezvous back the Kuat Drive Yards." The two lead ships ceased firing on one another and peeled off. Zsinj's fleets ripped the remaining ships to pieces, but the Maul and Home One escaped. Later, Zsinj got a report that the Imperial mole that had tried to capture him had been working solo. It wasn't even known if what he'd been doing had been authorized by Imperial High Command. After the battle, Zsinj had regained control over thje Ginli system. In the weeks that followed, he increased the number of ships patroling his borders and had all officers go through a thorough examination before entering any major vessel, especiall one that he was on. For at least the moment, his power base was secure. PART THREE: THE POWER OF THE DARK SIDE Things were not going to well. What had seemed to be a burst of good luck had become the worst time in Zsinj's life. Following the fall of Coruscant and the "death" of Ysanne Isard, many more Imperial officers had lost faith in their commanders and left the Empire, weakening it even further. Many of these men went to Imperial warlords. Zsinj got the most and managed to expand my territory beyond the Quelii sector, and he was soon the most powerful Imperial warlord. maybe more powerful than the actual Empire. Unfortunately, this put him at the top of the New Republic's list of targets. A task force headed by General Han Solo, and including Wedge Antilles and the legendary Rogue Squadron, were attacking his borders. And the Empire also had him in its sights. The admiral knew that unless something very lucky happened, he was a dead man waiting to happen. Standing on the bridge of his Super Star Destroyer, he got a call from the main hangar bay. "Sir, we captured a Rebel transport carrying valuable artifacts. You might want to look at these. They could help boost out depleted funds." Down in the bay, Zsinj sifted through all of the cargo. "This stuff looks like it goes back to the Old Republic, maybe even before." Then something caught his eye. "What's that?" he said, pointing to a small, cube-like object. "That, sir," said one of the officers "is a Sith holocron, a device the ancient Sith Order used for storing vast quantities of knowledge. Sith items are hot products in the market, and this will fetch a hefty price." Zsinj knew that he needed the money. But something inside of him told him not to sell it. "I'm going to take that back up to my office and examine it for a while." Back in his office, the holocron sat on the desk. Zsinj had no idea on how to operate. He simply touched it, and suddenly the room went dark and a massive image of a being came out of the small object. "I am Ludo Kressh, Lord of the Sith. You have tapped into power you know not of, but soon will." boomed the being. "What in God's name...? How do you know about me? You're just a recording." said a frightened Zsinj "I am not a recording. Right before I died, I transferred my spirit into this holocron. Only one graced with the power of the Force can summon me." "But I have no Force abilities. And the Force isn't even real. It's just some crazy old religion that the Jedi and you Sith worshipped. Nothing but illusions and cheap tricks." "Really." said Lord Kressh smiling. Suddenly, Zsinj was slammed against the wall, the life being choked out of him. He felt desperation, then anger. How dare this ghost treat him like this. How dare he. The aner grew and grew. Then Zsinj pushed forward and came off of the wall. The spirit of Ludo Kressh pulled back, as if stunned. "You see?" he said. "You are touched by the Force. Why do you think most of the recent deserters came to you? You subconciously drove them to you. You have got the power to be a great Dark Lord of the Sith. Go to the black planet in the Unknown Regions. There, you will find the lucky break you are looking for." Zsinj was needed here, commanding his forces. But he could spare a few days and put General Melvar in charge. Kressh had called it the black planet, and it was indeed that. Every single rock was pitch black. There was oxygen to breathe, but hardly any life. And the Dark Side permeated it. Zsinj was more and more opening himself to the Force. Though Ludo Kressh had not given him specific coordinates for the planet, Zsinj had found it through the Force. Deep in the ground, he and a few of his men found a massive storage facility. At the center were several man-sized vats. Zsinj recognized immediately what they were: cloning vats. Now it all made sense. He could make a clone of himself, as a back up in case he died. As Kressh had done, he could transfer his essence. "Commander, fire up these vats and begin transplanting my DNA. But leave out the gene that give me this gut. I don't want the new me to be this bulbous. Then, I want you to call in ten of my Imperial Class Star Destroyers and subdue the rest of this system. My power here will be known."